Land of the blind
by Misura
Summary: Seto visits Shizuka before leaving for Duelist Kingdom. [kind of SetoJoey, failed at SetoShizuka]
1. The seeing

Land of the blind

Warnings/notes : Seto/Shizuka, AU, slightly weird.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

written at 29th october 2003, by Misura

For firegoddess5, probably the only time I'll ever write this pairing. ^^;

**********

[the blind who yet sees]

Darkness.

It was all around her.

At times it suffocated her, smothering all sparks of hope she had ever had, every memory of the light.

__

"I will go to Duelist Kingdom and win enough money for your operation, sis. I promise!" Joey smiled at her, full of confidence. Full of light and hope.

She couldn't help but feel some of it too. She smiled back. "I know you will, Joey."

"Yugi's going to help me, of course. But Gramps says I'm a quick learner." Joey beamed proudly, even though she thought it very unlikely the kind old man at the Gameshop had ever said such a thing to her brother. She admired Joey for his determination, but she wasn't blind to his weaknesses.

"Even if you don't win - " she began.

He interrupted her. Of course. "I will! I said I would and no one is going to stop me!"

She sighed. Impossible to change his mind. As impossible as being unaffected by him. "You will always be my dear big brother."

He stared at her, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. Whether it was from his previous excitement or because her words had embarrassed him she did not know.

"Thanks." He mumbled the word, before turning away. To go packing.

And sometimes it covered her like a warm blanket, numbing the pain of other memories, less pleasant. Memories that were too clear in the light, yet seemed more bearable in the soft darkness.

__

"Shizuka, darling, we have to leave now. Do you have everything you want to take with you?" Her mother smiled at her, a fake kind of smile. She could sense that, even if she couldn't sense the reason for this deceit.

"Why can't Joey come with us too?" Mommy had explained to her about Daddy, about how he had gotten ill and didn't know what he was doing anymore. She didn't quite see why they couldn't take Daddy to the hospital ; wasn't that where people went when they needed to be cured?

But Mommy had replied that this illness couldn't be healed that way, that Daddy needed to be alone. That that might make him well again. She didn't understand that either.

Her mother frowned. "I already told you ; it's just not possible. Now, shall we go?"

She wanted to say 'no', even if Mommy wouldn't listen to her. Mommy'd only get angry with her, like Daddy did when he smelled funny. She didn't want that, so she nodded silently, clutching Mr Brown, her favorite teddybear, to her chest. Joey had given it to her, after he won it at the fair and since that day she had taken it with her wherever she went.

Joey teased her about it. She didn't mind, really. It was just something big brothers did.

Time seemed a strange concept in this place. Sometimes when she woke up, only half an hour had passed, while it had felt like she'd been gone for days and days.

It was strange, waking up unable to see. She wasn't really asleep during the periods she spent here of course. During the nights, she went to another place. A place of dreams, sometimes nightmares, but she never remembered it in the morning.

What she saw here though, in the darkness, she could recall with perfect clarity. She wished she could tell someone about it, wished someone would come to visit her, just sitting at her bedside and listening to her. Instead, most visitors seemed to come to *talk*.

__

"I ... I'm sorry I couldn't do more." A deep voice she recognized as her father's. She also heard the uneasy shuffling of his feet on the floor, allowing her to almost see him in her mind. 

"It's just that ... well ... things aren't going very well for me right now." More fidgeting. She managed a smile, because she knew he meant what he said and he was still her Daddy.

A cool kiss on her forehead, before the fading sound of footsteps and the rustling of curtains told her he was gone.

The nurses told her about the flowers people sent her, describing the way they looked to her to the smallest detail. Until she almost began to wish people would stop giving them to her.

__

"I've heard your father came to visit too." Her mother sounded plaintive, almost petty. As if it was a personal injury to her that Daddy had been here first. She nodded.

There was nothing wrong with her voice, yet she found herself preferring the silence more and more often. She wondered why sometimes.

"Joey hasn't come, of course. He's just as bad as your father." There was no logic in that accusation, for her father *had* come to visit and Joey was trying to win the money for *her*.

She did like the smell though. Especially that from the roses. They kept away the smell of the hospital, that made it harder to pretend she was just lying in her own bed, at home.

Home, where roses grew in the garden. In summer, they would bloom outside her window and the wind would carry their fragrance into her room.

Someone cleared his throat, pulling her wandering mind back to the present. She turned her head in the direction of the sound, even if the gesture was useless since she couldn't see.

"You are ... Shizuka?" A male's voice. She didn't recognize it, which was odd. Why would a stranger call her by her first name?

"Yes." She felt obliged to reply aloud. Why, she didn't know. It was just a feeling.

"Ah." Just that. A single syllable. There were more words and sentences captured in it, yet she was unable to decipher them all in the brief moment.

"Who are you?" she finally asked, after a silence that had become oppressive all of a sudden.

"My name is Seto Kaiba." A brief hesitation. "Most people call me Kaiba."

~to be concluded in the second chapter~


	2. The blind

Land of the blind

Warnings/notes : Seto/Shizuka, AU, slightly weird.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

written at 8th november 2003, by Misura

For firegoddess5, probably the only time I'll ever write this pairing. ^^;

Many thanks to the people who reviewed the first part of this ; I hope this ending isn't going to disappoint. It's very AU *fidgets unhappily*

To Kaira-chan : I don't know why I tend to write her Mom that way, really. I did it in 'Not what you want' too. ^^; Glad to hear you like it!

To Suppis Tenshi : Well, you'll find out his reason below. Thanks for the encouragement! (And thanks for the reading-tip!) ^_^

To Kiawna : Thank you, I tried. ^^;

To Vanillamoose4132 : Sorry, I'm too much of a shounen-ai fan. ^^; Thanks for the encouragment! ^_^;

To heatherthegreatone : Thank you very much. Read and find out the answer below. ^_^

To Flower Petals : Yes, I'm surprised too. ^^; Thank you!

To DarkShadowFlame : It's utterly AU I'm afraid. Originally, I intended this to be in between Joey leaving for Duelist Kingdom and Mokuba getting kidnapped, but that just didn't work out. So now it's an AU in which Mokuba remained unkidnapped, while all other things did happen. -_-;;; Sorry if it's confusing or bad. Thanks for the encouragement! Hope you'll enjoy this second part a little too …

To r*a*d*i*a*n*y : Thank you very much for the detailed review! I feel very flattered you'd think that highly of a fic with a pairing you don't even like. Hopefully, this second chapter won't prove too much of a disappointment. *bites her lip nervously* 

To Lethe Seraph : ^^; Glad to hear you liked it! 

**********

[the seeing who yet is blinded]

Light.

Bright and blinding it fell through the window.

He wondered why it didn't seem to bother her, then remembered the obvious reason.

With a rueful smile, safe since she couldn't see it, he wished explaining his coming here to himself was as easy. She would probably ask him about it too, yet he could not think of a single answer to give her.

For the sake of her brother? Would she believe that? Would he, when he replied thus?

He could not deny there was a certain bond between him and the blond, a certain grudging respect from his side for someone who never seemed to give up, no matter how often Fate kicked him back into the gutter.

Perhaps he recognized a little bit of himself in that, though he liked to think he had dealt with his problems much more satisfactory than the mutt.

_"You're such a smug bastard, Kaiba. You just don't have any idea how hard life can be." The accusation was as unfair as it was unexpected._

_He parried it with a sneer, as always. "Awww, does the puppy have trouble with understanding the classes again?"_

_"I'm not talking about school here, you ... you ... " Joey wildly shook his head._

_"Did you overload your brains again by trying to think?" he taunted. "You shouldn't ; better be careful with what little you have in that head of yours."_

_Joey turned red, flushed with anger. Yet speechless. And then his stomach grumbled._

_He laughed at that, a soft mocking sound. Even if he recognized it for what it was, a sign of real hunger rather than mere appetite, he still laughed._

_Joey glared daggers at him, before storming off. He sobered at that, the need to keep up appearances gone for the moment. Instead, his expression turned pensive._

_A discreet remark covered as an insult to Yami and a less subtle hint to Mokuba the next day solved the problem he had made his own. He told himself *someone* had had to do it, that the mutt's friends obviously weren't qualified for that job. That puppies needed taking care of._

"Joey told me about you." He could hear the question he dreaded in her words. "He doesn't like you very much I think."

"The feeling is mutual." The words came natural, like a reflex.

"Oh." There were more questions in that single syllable, more answers he couldn't give because he didn't know them himself.

"We just don't ... get along." It was the best explanation his mind was able to come up with. He could have replied her brother got to him like few others did. He could have admitted to reaping a certain pleasure from riling the blond up. Yet those were effects, not causes.

_"I've heard you're going to participate in Duelist Kingdom." The statement was studiously neutral._

_Of course, the mutt still took offense to it._

_"Yeah, what about it? Do you have a problem with that?" Agression, masking defensiveness and uncertainty._

_He shrugged. "I guess someone will get his first starchips pretty easy then." No need to elaborate ; the blond picked up any insult to him just fine, even if he wasn't as quick in other things._

_"Wait till I have won the finals!" Self-assurance and pride, hiding desperation. Oh, he knew what was at stake for the pup in this tournament._

_He snorted. "I highly doubt that day will arrive any time soon. And you'll never be able to beat *me*."_

_Honey-eyes blinked. Interesting. Apparently his admission that Joey *might* indeed win the finals, since he himself wasn't participating hadn't been as covert as he'd meant for it to be._

_"I have to win." Joey said. "There's no other option. I *have* to win."_

_He could have remarked on the faultiness of that remark, on the possibility of asking someone else for aid. Someone rich. Someone nearby. He chose not to._

"I suppose you have heard he didn't make it through the finals." His mouth had gone dry somehow. Odd.

She nodded. "I heard it on the radio. But at least he got beaten by Yugi and not by that cheater."

He failed to see why a defeat at the hands of a friend was better than one dealt by someone you could hate quite easily. Yet another mystery to be left unsolved.

"He won't be able to pay for your operation now." She must have known this already, but he needed something to broach the subject. She nodded, remaining silent.

"I can, if you're willing." There, the offer had been made. Even if he still didn't know why.

"Willing to do what?" Her voice quavered a little.

"To accept such a gift from me." It was simple as that.

She made a muffled sound. It took him a while to realize she was laughing. "Who wouldn't? I'm not crazy, turning down an offer like that." 

"Your brother might not approve." He wondered why he was giving her a reason not to do what he wanted her to do.

"I'm Shizuka. Not just Joey's sister. It's my life." Her hand sought his, unexpectedly, catching it before he could withdraw it. "And I say 'thank you'."

"You're welcome." He meant it.

She chuckled. "Imagine how surprised Joey will be when I await him at home when he gets back."

Yes, the mutt would definitely not expect that. He found himself smiling, for no reason at all. Or maybe just at the thought that even in doing something nice, he'd annoy the blond.

He gently squeezed her hand, sitting there holding it until she had drifted off to sleep again. Then he rose and left, unable to resist looking back just once. She was smiling in her dreams.

Somehow, it was impossible not to return that smile.

~OWARI~

A/N : *sighs* Is it just me or did this story become kind of Seto/Joey all of a sudden? o.O;;;


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